


Collar of Thorns

by greenwingbrigade



Category: Thrilling Intent (Web Series)
Genre: Collars, Gen, Leashes, Light Sadism, Training, Whump
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-27
Updated: 2017-10-11
Packaged: 2019-01-06 01:50:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12201492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greenwingbrigade/pseuds/greenwingbrigade
Summary: "I'm doing it for your own protection - I couldn't bear to have you killed in this war of mine, and without me or my Ban at your side I feel it almost a certainty. You are no prisoner, so maybe you should consider yourself more like..." His golden eyes glint. "A pet."





	1. Chapter 1

A heavy hand on one shoulder forces Ashe to her knees, the strength of it biting a brief pain through her bones. She glances aside to the figure, a snake-masked Ban that looks as innocent as any of the others. It holds no menace for her, nor does it hold respite - it simply stares her down, nudging her side to indicate she should look forward.

"Oh, Ashe, I didn’t see you there," Xin says with a smile from his perch atop a small outcrop of rocks, relaxing on them like a throne. He crosses his arms absentmindedly as he inspects her, clearly waiting for the outburst that is no doubt coming.

"Fuck you!" she spits. "If I want out of here, I'm getting out. If there's a winning side to the conflict between Ban and humans it won't be with you."

"And that is where you are wrong. If I cannot keep you here as a peer, Aesling, I will have to resort to other means." He indicates the ropes that are keeping her wrists bound, and the small group of Ban behind her that had captured her in the first place - a surprising feat in and of itself.

"So, what, I'm your prisoner now?"

"We will not resort to such barbaric tactics, no," he assures her. "And besides, the Ban do not take prisoners."

There is the slightest, almost unseen, gesture, and with a light ruffling of grass and underbrush the Ban leave the clearing. Now there is just Ashe and Xin; Ashe begins working to get her legs beneath her as best she can, ready to make a break for it at the nearest opportunity. Xin does not seem concerned by this effort.

"You will not get far," he says. "You are, unfortunately, quite wounded. The Ban caught you once, and next time, they will not be so gentle."

"Fuck you."

"As you said before."

He stares her down for another minute, his smile finally fading for the barest look of disappointment.

"I am afraid that if I cannot keep you here with simply words and promises, I must keep you here by other means."

Ashe lets out a startled gasp as vines reach out from the ground around her, moving at an incredible and unnatural speed. As planned, she starts to run as the vines lash out towards her.

They wrap hard around her throat, bringing her to the ground as she falls clumsily to her side only a foot or two from where she had started. She winces as she makes impact, no doubt scraping her shoulder, and suddenly freezing when she feels the vines' grip tighten.

"You seem to underestimate my abilities, Ashe." She looks up as she hears the gentle crunch of footsteps, and Xin wanders into view before her. The hold around her neck loosens some, and she feels what little hoarseness there had been to her breathing fade away. Xin kneels down and easily adjusts her until she is left sitting up, however awkwardly. "Now, are you sure you want to run?"

"Because if I try, you'll kill me?" Ashe tries her best to seem threatening even as she gets a good look at the multitude of vines that have trapped her almost effortlessly. "If I had any trust left in you, that went out the window with this."

"I'm doing it for your own protection - I couldn't bear to have you killed in this war of mine, and without me or my Ban at your side I feel it almost a certainty. You are no prisoner, so maybe you should consider yourself more like..." His golden eyes glint. "A pet."

Ashe narrows her eyes and bares her teeth at him. She leans forward as far as her positioning allows, and distinctly wishes her hands were free so she could aim her sword at him - or even hold the damn thing at all for comfort. "Like there's any chance I'll fucking agree to that."

"That's the point. You don't get to agree." He gestures to the vines, gentle grin returning with the motion. "I have done, and will do, worse things for far less. If I have to keep you like an animal for you to remain safe, I will do so."

She feels a strange sensation around her throat, and no matter how she twists she can only see the barest edges of what is occurring. Some of the plants around her recede into the earth while others replace them, freeing her from the ground. Something brushes lightly against her chin, both almost itching and almost tickling, as it shifts to suit Xin's will.

"Some would kill to reach this level of my favor," he says as sensation dies. "It's not too tight on you, I hope."

"What is it?" Ashe wants to rip the thing off before whatever it is gets the chance to strangle her, giving another heavy tug at her arms bound behind her. Try as she might, the rope will not give.

"Your collar. A ring of thorns around the inside, and roses on the outside." Ashe goes pale, pausing in her attempts to get free. "Any creature that can sense even the barest hint of magic will know that you are under my protection."

"You're a sugarcoating motherfucker. They’ll know that you  _ own _ me," she accuses, then lets out a startled gasp as a thousand tiny needles shift, threatening to dig into her skin. She bites her tongue and shrinks back, the thorns curling away after a moment of consideration on Xin's part.

"We'll have to work on getting that attitude under control," he says, tone so light with amusement it sends an unsettling chill down her spine. "If you are good, I will remove your arm restraints. Perhaps I will not even need to muzzle you."

Ashe bristles at that. "Like you could get away with it."

"A word of advice, Ashe." Another flash in his eyes, this time less of amusement and almost purely threat. "Do not provoke the one who has power over you."

She lets out another gasp of surprise as more vines grow from her rose collar, crossing over her mouth, looping around her head and back a dozen times to seal her jaw shut. Flowers bloom on their own along it too, though she has no doubt it was an ugly enough sight without Xin’s little mocking touch to complete it.

From there, something begins to flood her senses. Her mind is thick with fog, breath slowing, as Xin stares her down. “I will give you two days,” he says, and the world goes black.

*****

Ashe awakens in darkness.

She thinks she’s in a building, judging by the hard surface beneath her, but there are shades or something draped over the windows so no light is coming in. Slowly, she rises, but to her dismay her hands are still bound, as is her mouth.

Unable to do so vocally, she spits and swears in her own mind at the crazy bastard Xin and his stupid tricks.

It’s not that cold, thankfully, though after a moment of gathering herself she realizes a blanket has been left lying across her. Ashe curls into it to the best of her ability, awkwardly gathering some of it up to make a pillow and using the rest for comfort. She lets out a sound like a whine that, if she could speak, would almost certainly be the word “motherfucker”.

She thinks back to what Xin said as she was passing out. Two days, he said. Two days to what? Two days to be stuck in a hole and ruminate on how much she hates him?

The stupid muzzle around her mouth. The stupid collar around her throat. The best she can manage is a low growl - if he insists on treating her like a wild animal she is going to act like one.

As gross as it might be, the idea of taking a bite out of Xin’s arm is an oddly reassuring one. Slowly she gets to her knees, and then to her feet. Slowly Ashe makes her way towards where she thinks is a door, or a window, each step a little lazier than she is used to. Her head whacks heavily against something slick and cool, which she recognizes as glass. She rears back, steeling herself, before slamming into it as hard as she can.

If he wants to keep her in a cage, he’s going to have to try a hell of a lot harder than  _ that. _

The window shatters, splinters digging hard into her head and shoulder as she tumbles out into freedom. The world outside is calm, and peaceful, and she straightens up as blood trails down her multitude of new wounds.

“ _ Ashe. _ ”

His voice is sudden and sharp and with it she keels over as her neck begins to burn with a harshness she would normally attribute to flame. The sound she manages is part sob, part scream, choking out the barest hints of a sound as the sensation overwhelms her. When the sensation finally ceases she barely notices, the feeling of the thorns retracting as painful as they had been first piercing her skin.

Ashe pants for awhile, eyes closed, breathing hard through her nose with her mouth still not yet free. Xin steps up beside her, eyes half-lidded as he looks down at her.

She glances up at him, tears welling in her eyes. He shakes his head, and when he speaks, she braces herself for another onslaught of pain that never comes. “I am  _ trying _ to be kind.”

The glare that meets his gaze reads quite clearly as “ _ well, you’re not doing a good job of it. _ ” Xin continues to stare, unmoved by her, even as she suddenly  _ roars _ at him through her muzzle, entire body shaking as the golem arm rips its way into existence beside her, grasping wildly.

Before it can land a strike, something hard and blunt impacts her temple. Her focus dissipates, as does the golem arm, leaving the gentlest trail of blood running down her head to join the rest of it as she hits the ground hard.

The world blurs and doubles, the clarity in her eyes slowly fading.

“I am trying, Ashe,” he repeats as blackness descends on her again. “But tomorrow I will have to attempt a leash.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One of the first things Ashe notices about being Xin's "pet" is that he no longer tries to hide things from her.

One of the first things Ashe notices about being Xin's "pet" is that he no longer tries to hide things from her.

When he speaks with the Ban he does so freely, uncaring as to what she overhears. From the pieces she gathers she slowly pieces together the game Xin is playing, from who he is pitting against one another to who he is moving around like pieces on a board.

Other than Xin himself, she supposes she has the clearest image of all the goings on in the village.

The bastard, true to his word, hadn’t removed either her muzzle or collar, and her own healing could only do so much to repair the damage done by the thorns, especially as she hadn’t had a meal or even water for at least a day. The blood was dry and sticky, rubbing against her skin every time she moved and aggravating what remained of her wounds - and then, of course, there is the leash.

It’s long and thin and vivid, a vibrant green with the more flowers running down it to match both her collar and muzzle. Xin hardly needs to use it with how even the gentlest tug makes her grimace with pain, and she works to try and keep up with him so he won’t _pull_ and she won’t almost fall over as her body wracks from the torture. Whenever she does he takes a moment to stop and wait for her, and she can’t tell if he’s doing it maliciously or not. She wants to tear the thing off, but he will not let her hands go. She wants to scream, but her jaw is stuck tight.

She hates Xin. The emotion she feels in her heart reminds her of the burning around her throat.

Most of the time Ashe is made to stand nearby him as he talks, and though sometimes he gives her the slightest nod, an indication she can sit. The rest of the time she feels like a guard - not that she would or could leap to his defense if something at all did happen to threaten him.

Many of the Ban ignore her entirely, giving not even the slightest indication she is there. A few pass her what might be sympathetic looks beneath their masks, or those of jealousy even in the face of her worn and injured state. She understands much about the Ban, but even she cannot decipher exactly what they mean with just a glance.

She sees Horaven once or twice, and he shoots her an apologetic look, briefly even taking Xin aside to talk to him, but overall does nothing. “It’s for the best,” he mutters to her, and she can’t help but feel even more aggravated at the idea he believes it.

By the day's end Ashe is so, so tired, legs and feet aching from standing, wrists burning from failed attempts to free herself. A low, biting hunger has settled in the pit of her stomach, and her throat is dry with thirst - evidently, Xin has forgotten that humans need all those things to live.

When he takes a few steps, intent on leaving the small building they have settled in briefly at the end of the long day, Ashe gives up. She falls to her knees, reveling in the relief from her own weight and doing her best to ignore the painful spikes of the thorns digging into her neck, forcefully beckoning her after Xin. She feels wounds reopen for the millionth time. She bites her tongue.

As he opens the door he turns around, obviously expecting to see her there, and instead raises both eyebrows at the blood pooling and running down her back.

"Ashe," he says almost sternly. "If you were growing tired you simply need tell me."

Ashe glares at him by way of response, shoulders slackening as the pain fades and the nettles retract. Another wave of his hand and the vines around her jaw retreat as well, and she takes a few deep breaths before coughing as she tries to pry the taste of plant out of her mouth.

"I will grab you some food and water. One moment."

The second the door closes behind him Ashe collapses onto her side, not even bothering to sit on her knees anymore. She lets herself be comforted by the wooden floor, untouched and unshaped by Xin’s magic. She kicks off her sandals, and for probably the first time in the world she wishes she had her boots, more comfortable to stand in and yet more likely to blister - but she would take the blisters over the straps of her sandals digging into her skin.

Distantly, she wonders where her pack is. Xin probably hid it somewhere.

When he returns a couple minutes later, it is with two baskets. Both seem to be made of some kind of reed or straw, though one is woven more tightly than the other. He places them both before her and she gets a good look at their contents - one is filled to the brim with crystal clear water no doubt brought in from the spring outside, and the other all kinds of assorted fruits and foods she suspects he grew himself.

Ashe bristles as she feels the spirit step behind her, but to her surprise a moment later the ropes binding her fall away and her hands are free. Shakily she pushes herself up into a sitting position, eyeing Xin warily before reaching out for a particularly pristine-looking apple.

"My apologies. Sometimes I forget that for all the power you hold, you are only human." He says it smooth as silk, giving her a reassuring smile. "We are done for the day, so I saw it the best time to begin your... upkeep."

She takes a bite of the apple, wordless and still glaring.

"As you eat, allow me to address your wounds." Xin takes to one knee and leans close, reaching out a hand so suddenly that Ashe jerks away on instinct, almost knocking over the bowl of water as she scrambles back.

"Why, so you can just scratch the hell out of me tomorrow?" she spits, pausing briefly in her rapid escape and wincing at the rasping feeling in her throat. Her voice is hoarse from disuse and thirst.

"It is for your own good," he replies, with some force behind his words. "If you would do as I said you would not be harmed. I only have your best interests at heart, Ashe."

She glares at him a moment more, but turns and lets him look her over. He places one hand at the crook of her neck and the other by the shoulder that had been injured when she had been captured that first day. With a low, gentle pulse she feels her wounds close, bruises fading and the rope burns around her wrists healing.

Ashe rubs her wrists with her hands as she stares uncertainly at Xin, then places a hand to her throat where there is no longer any thorn-marks. “Please,” she whispers hoarsely, the events of the last couple days building up in her chest. “Please, let me go back to my friends.”

“So often you humans don’t know what is best for you,” he says. “Your race would drive itself to its death if it weren’t for the kindness of spirits like me.”

She stares in horror at his back as he walks away, and when the door closes behind him, she squeezes her eyes shut tight and tries her best not to cry.

*****

Ashe wakes just a little before dawn.

She digs into the fruit Xin had left, none of it touched after her breakdown the night before. She drains most of the water bowl instantly, too, even more dehydrated from the tears she insists to herself she didn’t shed - the little she doesn’t drink she wipes on her face, head, and neck to clean away the dried blood there. She can’t see if it looks better or not. It makes her feel a little better, though.

As she picks up the last of the food, a particularly juicy looking pear that she also distantly wishes she could slam into the side of Xin’s head, she finds not just more basket beneath it but cloth. When she pulls it out it unfolds into clothing, fresh and clean and slightly now smelling of fruit. The prospect of clean clothes greatly appealed to her - wearing something that Xin had given her did not.

"Fucker," she mumbles again, as she had been doing most of the night. There were few other words she could find to describe Xin, truthfully. Inien would no doubt be proud of her spite, and her unwillingness to waste energy on anything more than that simple insult.

Ashe feels a pang in her stomach as she realizes she might not see Inien again. She shakes her head to clear it, worry easily giving way to anger. Xin had said he wouldn’t let her die, and if there was anyone she could bet on surviving a war, it was Inien. Inien had survived a tower exploding and almost being liquefied by magic - a petty war would mean nothing to her.

Her friends, though. They had survived a golem army, a god of death, a cursed deck of cards… If anyone could win this war and get her out of being Xin’s little pet, they could.

Although she is not terribly happy with being stuck as the damsel in distress for the time being.

For a moment, she places one hand to the collar, fingers searching for the slightest nooks between thorns. She closes her eyes and, for the first time, gave the collar of vines a sharp tug - the idea is abandoned an instant later as a familiar pain bites hard into her skin.

Absentmindedly Ashe sheds her tunic and, after a moment of thought, her pants. She slips the clothes that had been given to her on, and though her mouth twisted into an expression of distaste at the look of the clothing, she finds it unusually comfortable. It’s soft and cool against her skin, like a morning breeze or the gentle brush of grass at her ankles. The scrape of the collar seems almost worse in comparison when she turns her head. She doesn’t know if Xin intended it or not.

She is also very mad about how the outfit looks - it has a similar style to that of the Ban, the same colors and patterns, but with a stark difference; it does not cover her shoulders at all, making her tattoos more than visible. It dips barely over her chest, showing the slightest hint of the bindings often hidden beneath her tunic. Ashe frowns as she looks herself over, almost wishing she had a mirror or at least some water left to glower at her reflection in.

“You look quite nice,” Xin says, startling her once more. She didn’t hear him come in, and she instantly sets her sights on him, scowl returning as she regains her composure.

“You’re showing me off,” she accuses.

“ _You_ put the clothes on,” he replies so casually that her blood boils, as if her other clothes weren’t soaked in blood and sweat and grime. “Many of the Ban here choose to embrace their spiritfolk heritage, even those not of spiritfolk blood. It will help you look like one of us.”

“I am not your damn _spiritfolk pet_ ,” Ashe spits, crouching into something like a battle stance and grasping for a weapon that isn’t there.

“You’re right,” he says playfully. “You’re my _human_ pet.”

Ashe lunges for him, half wanting to strangle him and the rest of her just wanting to get by him and into the open, where she won’t be cornered like a scared animal. He lets her deliver the blow, a swift left hook to the jaw that barely moves his head, before she is on the ground, her side burning from an unseen strike.

She gives a low groan of pain.

“I have no time for this today,” Xin says. “We are going to war, and that includes you. I have to keep an eye on you. Come.”

The last word he speaks like a sharp command to a dog, and to her own shame the leash and collar tug at her with such force that Ashe finally gives in and stands, stumbling after Xin and emerging into the village proper.

“What about,” Ashe struggles to choke out before the leash’s slack loosens some. “What about my friends?”

“What about them?”

“What are you going to do?” she asks. “When they come for me? When they come for _you?_ ”

“My dear Aesling,” he says, cool and serious as he leads her through the village. “There are two ends to this war - one where I win, and one where I lose. In either scenario, they will have far, far more to worry about than simply your safety.”

Ashe glares daggers into his back as all the assorted Ban of the village assemble around them, and Xin begins to detail his plans for the coming war.

“Sit,” she murmurs to herself, voice low as she imagines Xin in her position instead. “Stay. Roll over. Good spirit.”

He catches her eye, and the smile he gives her sends another shiver down her spine. The war is coming. Ashe is not ready.

**Author's Note:**

> What a better way to start an AO3 than with some good old fashioned whump


End file.
